Recognising the raucous voices that meant her children had finally woken up and were having their daily fights before school, Maria decided that continuing to read her emails in this chaos was pointless and reluctantly closed her laptop, picked up her now warm cup of coffee and made her way upstairs to stop their fight.

“Amy and Jack Nelson, stop being ridiculous and hurry up or you will be late to school,” she called out then gasped when she saw they were in a heap on the floor, tugging at each other's hair and clothes.

She ran forward and tried to separate them, only for her daughter to accidentally hit the cup of coffee with her elbow, causing the whole thing to spill on her mother. Only then did the two children stop their fight to inspect the damage they’d inflicted on their mother’s white dress shirt.

“I’m sorry mama...” her daughter began.

Maria took a second to compose herself. She would not be like her father, who would have likely exploded in anger at such a situation, and then beat them all to a pulp, creating new scars to go along with the rest. Instead, she took a deep breath and smiled at her children.

“It’s okay, accidents happen,” she said, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. “Let’s just clean this up and then we can all go down for breakfast, okay?”

Her children’s faces illustrated the shame and embarrassment they felt at the fight they now recognized as childish, and they quickly got to work cleaning up the spilt coffee. Maria couldn’t help but smile at their enthusiasm, even in the face of their mistake.

As she unbuttoned her soiled shirt in front of the mirror, Maria couldn’t resist staring at the ugly scars that marred her body. She had always hated them and felt extreme despair whenever she looked at them. But today was different. As she traced her fingers over the raised and discoloured lines, she felt grateful.

Grateful because she reflected on her childhood and how different it was from her children’s. She had grown up in a household filled with anger and violence, and she had vowed to never let her children experience that kind of environment. Maria was grateful for the opportunity to show her children a different way of handling conflict and mistakes. She knew that in the end, it was moments like these that would shape her children into kind, compassionate adults. And for that, she was willing to forgive a spilt cup of coffee and a dirtied dress shirt any day.

After dropping the kids off to school, she got to work and all was well until she received the call.

It was her brother. Telling her that their father

was in the hospital. And that he probably only had a few days left. This was her only chance to meet him and say goodbye. She decided she didn’t care. He was always dead to her

anyway. They’ve never even spoken once after she’d moved out at eighteen. Not when she graduated. Not when she got married. Not even for the birth of her children. And certainly not for the death of her husband. So why should she do it now?

But as she sat alone in her office, the memories started flooding back. The times he would take her fishing, the time when he picked her up from school and intimidated her bullies. Despite everything, he was still her father. And deep down, she knew she would regret not seeing him one last time.

So after asking for permission from her boss, she clocked out early and made the long journey to the hospital. When she arrived, she was greeted by her brother, who led her to her father's room. He was weak and frail, but his eyes lit up when he saw her. They talked for hours, reminiscing about the past and sharing their regrets.

Before she left, her father reached out to her and said, "I may not have been the best father, but I love you more than words can express. I'm sorry for everything." Tears streamed down her face as she hugged him tightly, finally letting go of the anger and resentment she had held onto for so long.

In the end, she was grateful for the chance to say goodbye and make peace with her father. And as she left the hospital, decided she couldn't exactly forgive him, but she would try to make his last days on this planet easier for him.